1. Technical Field
This invention relates to liquid bath vacuum cleaner systems and, more particularly, to a liquid pan assembly including integrally formed filtering means for use with a liquid bath vacuum cleaner.
2. Discussion
Liquid bath vacuum cleaners are used in a wide variety of residential and industrial applications. These vacuum cleaners typically include a main vacuum canister with a removably attached liquid pan. An intake nozzle of the pan matingly engages with an opening in the canister when the pan is attached to the canister to allow dust and dirt entrained air to be ingested by a vacuum force through the intake nozzle into the area defined by the liquid pan. The pan is removed periodically from the main vacuum canister and flushed out with water or another cleaning solution as it is articulated into various positions.
Although liquid pan and canister combinations as described above operate well to receive and trap dust and dirt particles entrained in ingested air, the attached intake nozzle tends to impede cleaning by trapping dirt when flushing out the pan. In addition, the shape of many heretofore designed liquid pans usually requires that the pan be held and manipulated with both hands as the liquid cleaning agent is emptied therefrom. Accordingly, since two hands are often required to handle the liquid pan, it can at times be difficult for an individual to catch unwanted debris such as cloth, hair, carpet fibers, etc., from being drained from the liquid pan as the liquid filtering agent is emptied from the pan.
In a co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 713,059, a liquid pan assembly was disclosed which represented a significant step forward in alleviating the problems of prior art liquid pan assemblies. The above-mentioned liquid pan assembly includes a handle portion and a comb. The handle, which is pivotally secured to a portion of the pan, serves to make the liquid pan more easy to handle and manipulate as the contents of the pan are emptied. The comb enables the liquid contents of the pan to be filtered from debris intermixed therewith as the liquid contents are emptied from the pan.
While the above-mentioned invention has proved to be a significant advance in the art, it would be even further desirable to provide a one-piece liquid pan assembly with which the liquid contents of the liquid pan assembly can be filtered of solid debris such as pieces of cloth, hair, carpet strands and the like, as it is emptied from the assembly.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath vacuum cleaner which may be more easily cleaned than conventional pans for liquid bath vacuum cleaners.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a main vacuum canister having an attached intake nozzle operable to receive dust and dirt entrained air ingested by the vacuum cleaner and to direct the ingested air towards a removably attached liquid pan.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a removable liquid pan having an opening operable to communicate with an intake nozzle of a main vacuum canister to thereby allow airflow through the nozzle and the opening into an interior area of the liquid pan.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an intake means for a main vacuum canister of a vacuum cleaner, which intake means includes an integrally formed tubular intake port, and where the intake means may be removed from the lower surface of the main vacuum canister.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an intake means which may be coupled to a lower surface of a main vacuum canister, which intake means includes a tubular intake port protruding outwardly of the lower surface of the main vacuum canister, and which intake means further includes a downwardly depending shroud extending outwardly of the lower surface of the main vacuum canister a distance at least equal to a distance at which the tubular intake port extends outwardly of the lower surface, to thereby rest on a floor in a level manner and support a main vacuum canister secured thereto in a level, stabilized manner.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a removable liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner, where the liquid pan incorporates a handle portion which is pivotally secured to a portion of the liquid pan and foldably positionable to enable it to be stowed away when the liquid pan is coupled to a main vacuum canister of the vacuum cleaner system.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system, where the liquid pan incorporates a pivotally, removably disposed comb, and where the comb operates to filter unwanted debris such as pieces of cloth, hair, carpet strands and the like from a liquid filtering agent contained within the pan as the filtering agent is emptied from the pan.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system where the liquid filtering agent can be quickly emptied from the pan.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system where solid debris and the liquid filtering agent can be separately disposed without having to physically handle any of the debris or employ any separate filtering implements.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system where the liquid pan provides an integrally formed filtering means to filter unwanted debris from a liquid filtering agent contained within the pan as the filtering agent is emptied from the pan.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system where the liquid pan includes a plurality of molded-in ribs disposed vertically on a spout portion of the liquid pan to more completely filter unwanted debris from a liquid filtering agent contained within the pan as the filtering agent is emptied from the pan.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a handle assembly for a liquid pan for a liquid bath-type vacuum cleaner system where the liquid pan includes a handle assembly which, when extended, is held rigid with respect to the pan, and is pivotally disposed such that it can be foldably stored below the uppermost portion of the liquid pan.